Economic concerns consume U.S.

Having watched the people of this country tell us what they want, I suggest that they will get what they want plus a whole lot more. Obamacare is now the official health care policy of this country, and by the end of 2013 or beginning of 2014 you will find that employers are going to do one of two things. They will either reduce the majority of their workforces to part-time status (in order to avoid dramatically higher costs) or tell their employees that they will no longer provide health care coverage of any kind to the employees.

As a former businessman, I can tell you those kind of decisions are necessary for the health of the business. It is not personal, but a business decision. Business owners will pay a lesser penalty to the government rather than pay the higher premiums that will occur.

Obamacare will drastically change the way Medicare is provided in this country. The cuts to Medicare are real cuts, and hospitals and doctors will not provide the services they have been providing at a drastically reduced return.

Will there be death panels? Oh, they are not spelled out as death panels, however, there will be a group of 12 to 15 people making decisions on who gets what. It only stands to reason that a heart transplant may go to a 30-year-old before (return on investment) it goes to a 65-year-old. So the 65-year-old may not live as long as he or she might have because of a decision by people who are appointed by whatever president is in office at the time.

We will now have to pay the piper: Supreme Court appointments, spending and debt increases that will impact our economy and be disastrous for our grandkids.

Andy Allaire

Laguna Woods

Reading the Register's Opinion pages brought back memories of my own efforts to attain financial security for myself and my family back in 1976 [“Adios to more millionaires?” Editorial, Nov. 5]. A few friends and acquaintances of like minds decided to beg, borrow and empty our meager bank accounts to purchase a small business, which later led to the purchase of other such businesses.

During the following 10 years we realized that doing business in California was too complicated. The California laws and codes that applied to our business had gone from a two-page document when we first started to some 20-plus pages in about 10 years.

Today, there are 85 pages and counting. In 1986 we decided that we would no longer pursue businesses in California and started looking to more business-friendly states. We did so, and for the most part never looked back. That move proved to be a good decision, but if I had it to do over again, I would have moved myself from California and not just pursued my business interests in other states.

California is a beautiful state, but the exodus of productive people and businesses from this state has left us with a state overburdened with welfare recipients, overpaid government employees and leftist bureaucrats, seemingly in permanent charge of the state's affairs. As history has shown over and over again, that does not bode well for this state or for our country.

Dennis Walker

Yorba Linda

What is a job? Politicians, college professors and commentators speak of jobs as though they are entities that can simply be constructed for the purpose of providing potential workers with jobs. A real job exists when there is an entity with money to pay a salary and a need or simply a desire for the service to be provided by the worker.

Sidney Hatchl

Santa Ana

Get the numbers right

My family and I try to be positive thinkers. Each week there is another article about how our economy is picking up and each month or so we get to review the federal unemployment numbers [“171,000 new jobs: Good, not great, growth,” Business, Nov. 3]. Really, does anyone believe these numbers? They are revised 30 days after publication almost every time. This is a prime example of how the government can never do a job correctly the first time.

Rather than paint us a rosy picture with these unreliable numbers, how about just giving us the cold, hard facts? Anyone can take statistics and twist them to make whatever point they want to lean toward. What we know is that every family has been affected by higher taxes, job loss, underemployment, dramatic increases in all utilities and gasoline and decreased earnings.

Will things get better? Certainly, because we are at historic lows. So rather than trumpet every little gain, how about providing straightforward information without commentary?

V. Lowe

Anaheim

Destructive taxation

At some point the private sector will no longer be able to afford higher and higher taxes to feed those at the public trough, which include all those receiving public aid (welfare, housing, pensions, government subsidies, grants, etc.) and those paid with tax generated money (city, county, state and federal employees). Unfortunately, the number of these people keeps going up.

With the president's re-election, I am very worried about the next four years. Since he cannot (yet) run for re-election, he can use his executive powers and behind the doors deals to take this country down a road I hate to think about. I'm afraid that in four years we may be a completely socialist country, in a huge depression, have only the wealthy and the poor and be no longer considered any kind of a super power.

I think the America I grew up in has disappeared.

Ron Manning

Costa Mesa

Why the GOP lost

All is good for those of us who are social liberals and fiscal conservatives. With the re-election of President Barack Obama, the next Supreme Court Justice will not be a social conservative intent on repealing a woman's right to choose or implementation of any other right-wing agenda. And coupled with Democratic control of the Senate we will also now have a chance to take care of all the people's health and welfare without concern about repeal of the Affordable Care Act. And we will see a better opportunity for the U.S. to implement an honorable tolerance on social issues such as drug legalization and gay rights while strengthening the separation of church and state. At the same time, a Republican House may choose to try and stop the social engineering within its party and work with Democrats on achieving fiscal solvency.

The House Republicans will keep forcing fiscal restraint on our nation's pocketbook, which is commendable. But, hopefully, they will do it in a way that does not choke recovery with extreme austerity and drastic spending cuts. We may well see Republicans coming to understand that taxing the wealthy is not the same as taxing the middle class. It will be a real opportunity to put our fiscal house in order while also maintaining state's rights.

For those of us who seek social prosperity and fiscal constraint for all who live and work in these U.S.,

Election Day was a good day. I celebrate a victory for all Americans, even those who don't know how fortunate they are.

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